Tindersticks – The Waiting Room

Tindersticks

The Waiting Room

{City Slang}

January 2016

For a band known for their recent forays into cinematography as much as their lush sonic soundscapes, the new Tindersticks album – their 10th in total over a twenty-five year career – shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. All 11 tracks here are backed by a corresponding video, as part of a project in conjunction with popular French music site, La Blogothèque.

The visuals are intriguing, the music a perfect blend of past and present Tindersticks with Stuart Staples’ unmistakeable baritone expertly backed by a swell of organ, flute and saxophone. Opening instrumental Follow Me gives way to Second Chance Man and Were We Once Lovers?, complete with some of the snappiest bass work committed by the band to date. Guest contributions come in the form of Jenny Beth (read Paula’s review of the latest Savages album here) on the rumbling We are Dreamers! and the late Lhasa de Sela on the delightful nursery rhyme-esque Hey Lucinda, the latter conceived by Staples many years ago while out wandering in the early hours of his then home town of Cologne. And that’s exactly how I feel this record is probably best appreciated – an aimless late night or early morning drift through the haze of half-lit inner city streets.

Whether this record will appeal to those put off by the occasional – and admittedly – somewhat inaccessible nature of the band’s mid-career output, the new effort is a worthy addition to what is now a hugely impressive and extensive back catalogue.

If you’re not yet into Tindersticks, start here and work your way backwards.

See our other reviews here!